Devils-Blues Postgame Quotes [03.20.10]

Here are some of the postgame quotes after the Devils 1-0 loss to the Blues Saturday night:

Paul Martin:

What went wrong tonight?

“We came out flat, we turned the puck over quite a bit; we got away from what makes our team successful. They played well, we didn’t turn it on until the second period, the third period — which was too late; we couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

Is it hard playing against a team you don’t see too often?

“Yeah it’s a little tough; we’re not used to seeing teams like that too often. At the same time we have to do a better job not worrying about what they do, but worrying about our game.”

How do you feel after your third game in four nights after missing 59 games?

“Good, a little sore, but I feel well; better than I thought I would. It’s sore, it’s going to be every day, it’s still has to get stronger and some more motion. It’s getting better everyday and hopefully soon it won’t be sore.”

Martin Brodeur:

How tough is it to lose a 1-0 game as a goaltender?

“It’s two games in a row now, the same thing happened in Toronto. They’re tough, I think defensively we did our job — only allowing one goal — if we do that all year, we shouldn’t lose too many games. Getting a goal, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. Our power play looked good (tonight), just no results tonight.”

What did you see on the lone goal tonight?

“He made a pretty good shot, a really hard shot; he was coming in and looking at a teammate going to the net. I thought I was in good position, I was in good position; he just beat me clean – a hard shot. I don’t play much against these guys; sometimes the speed of (their) shots surprises you a bit.”

Ty Conklin:

It’s been a while for you since you started a game, now you get back-to-back wins in back-to-back starts…

“Yeah, it’s nice anytime you can help out (the team) especially this time of year.”

Did you feel good out there from the outset?

“Yeah I felt better in the early going than I did the other night. I don’t think they got too many shots early. The first period was kind of not too many opportunities for both teams. It got a little tighter obviously in the second and third periods, we did a good job staying out of the box and when we did have to kill penalties, we did a good job.”

Big stop by Brad Boyes for you on Ilya Kovalchuk’s wraparound attempt…

“Wasn’t that (Roman) Polak? Was that Boyes that did it? Ok, well there ya go; definitely a key stop.”

Erik Johnson:

An important two points for you guys tonight right?

“They’re a really good team, one of the best in East; lucky for us we were able to hold onto a 1-0 lead and played good.”

How important was this win for the Blues’ playoff push?

“It was really important; we have to win almost every game going forward and can’t afford to have an off-night. Fortunately tonight we had a good goalie and got the one goal that we needed.”

Jacques Lemaire:

Bad luck, bad game, both; how do you look at it?

“I felt like the first period we were a little flat, we didn’t show as much as we did in the second and third. Meaning we didn’t show that we were going to work hard to win the game; we didn’t show that at the start. The second we played better and the third, but the puck was bouncing. You have to start at the very beginning — first shift — play hard, otherwise you won’t get the bounces. You have to work all the time; you work all the time, you’ll get the bounces.”

Bad line change for your team on the goal?

“Yeah, well again, that was the first period. You’re changing, you wait until the other team gets the puck and then you change. If you want to change, you just have to skate and go to the bench as hard as you can; and there won’t be any mistakes. We did that three times before the goal; you just have to be sharp. I’ve said all along, there are no easy games. This team is one of the best teams on the road — they have a better record on the road than at home.”